


REFLECTIONS 



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REFLECTIONS 



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BY 

W. Walter Debolt 



Copyrighted by 

W. Walter Debolt 

1918 



Published by Mound City Printing Company 
M oundsville. West Va, 



Price 75 Cents. 



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CI.A508959 



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Hark, O My Soul! 

Hark, O my soul! There's a hand on my 

door! 
Listen! 'Tis coming and speaking of yore! 
Sweetly 'twill speak as the mists of the years 
Scud to the ocean of lingering tears! 
O, it is passing the threshold of w^oe 
Where I can hear the lone steps as they go, — 
Where I can hear in both sunshine and rain 
Someone — just someone, — there stepping 

again! 

Lone in the shadows of silence I dw^ell, 
Longing my story of sadness to tell, 
Watching the trail of the beautiful sky 
As it moves out from its anchor on high! 
Lone is my soul in that silence of life 
Wrestling in fear the strong Demon of strife, 
O, could I see a more beauteous day 
For e'er in the silence of life I w^ould stay! 

T^ »J» t^* »jV •^ •{» ^ft wji ^fi rji iji 

I'll knock on a door as my visitors do 

I'll chant in the silence a motto that's trvie, 

I'll dream of my honor and not of my 

grave, 

ril be a great v/arrior, I'll not be a slave! 
I'll rise up and w^alk in the land far ahead, 
A^nd dream thru the night on my soft pillow^ed 

bed. 
To bring me the joy so essential to they 
Who fight 'neath the banners that win in the 

fray! 



But Hark, O my soul! I am living today! 
I am striving ahead on the perilous way, 
I am passing the gate where my visitors trod, 
There drinking th^ drinks of th^ beckoning 

sod ! 
@ut, O that my soul would pass qxi th^re for 

e*er 
Fulfilling the words of an unspoken prayer, 
Contented Mrhate'er be the lot o' my strife, 
Xhat eventually forp>s the long pathway of 

lif ^ I 




To Mother 

In long past hours as I knelt 

Beside my loving mother's knee, 
I lov'd the gayly kisses she 
Impressed upon my feeble cheek; 

'Twas then I in my w^eakness felt 
The sacred love for mother meek, 
When I would go and smiling seek, 

The radiant face that smil'd for me. 

O blissful day af long ago, 

That ever pass*d so pleasantly. 
My heart go out in sympathy. 
For that swet life I rambl'd thru 

Fresh in the undeceptive glow 

That crimson-dyed my cheeks anew^, 
When in my youthful soul I knew 

That mother turned and smil'd for me! 

O aged hours pass'd and gone, 

A memory lives for e'er of thee, — 
A memory on the boundless sea, 
That far engulfs my tortured heart! 

No never dies the youthful song, 
Of golden love I did impart. 
In all my youthful train of art, 

When mother gazed and smil'd for me. 

Life has no bright and golden day, 
That breaks so fair and w^ondrously. 
As youth's young day of rising glee 
Spent 'neath a mother's loving care; 

How^ gently breaks the hour of play, 
Beneath the sunbeams' ling' ring stare, 
When youth and innocence could w^ear 

The happy smile she smil'd for mel 



Somewhere the thots of life e'er dwells 
On land or on the lonely sea, — 
On mountain heights or in the lea, 

Consistently their tales to tell. 

Somewhere the songs of fate are sung. 
At break of day and fall of eve; 
Voluptious sw^ells the notes to cleave 

To life's great lessons just begun. 

Somew^here a face in sorrow^ lies. 
Somewhere a goal is ever lost; 
Somewhere someone paid the cost,, 

Having strived to higher rise. 

Somewhere a face more brightly smiles^ 
Somewhere a fortune great is w^on. 
Yet somewhere there's a work undone 

To do by great and cautious w^^iles. 

Somewhere life's mystery ever lives, 
In loilely and unw^elcome cells, 
But w^aiting for the face that tells, 

And longing for the hand that gives^ 

Somewhere life's fate will ever rest. 
Somewhere the sun w^ill never set; 
Somew^here life's hope w^ill ne'er forget 

Somewhere life's soul is ever blessed L 



The Creation 

From out the great expanse of boundless 

naught, 
Gazed the Creator; nothing could He see 
In all the shapeless mass of dreaming space, 
To satisfy His vision; and He moved 
With all His power to form another day. 
In earth and heaven, which he did create. 

'Twas void and formless, and the darkness 

dwelled 
Upon the face of the uncertain deep, 
Wrapp'd close in one great mist of darken'd 

hope 
Until the great Creator silent moved 
Upon the bosom of the mass thereof, 

And in His terse command of wisdom said, 
*'Let there be light!" And there w^as gloried 

light, 
O'er all the v^orld, — light undivided till, 
The w^ondrous Maker, in His w^isdom sear'd. 
The light into! Divided He the light, 

la tv/o immortal parts: the one to 035^^, 

The other, darkness,-— into silent Night! 

And the next day the Maker moved again 
In undisputed pow^er thruout His v/orld, 
Creating an new^ epoch of His acts: 
Created He a firmament amidst 
The great expanse of waters to divide, 



The waters from the waters, and He form'd 
A great division; insomuch that He 
Divided all the waters of the deep; 
Above the firmament of Heaven, He 
Placed, in correctness, v^aters to prevail 
Distinct from those that w^ere so far beneath. 

When a division He had brung about, 

He placed the lower w^aters in a spot, 

And in His noble power He spoke again: 

'*Let the dry land appear!" And it w^as so! 

The sub-divisions of the sever'd mass, 

He chose to name: The dry land called He 

earth, 
The other called He, in His pleasure, seas; 
And gazing o'er He^saw that it was* good! 

And then the grass, the flower, and the tree 
Came forth and grew^ upon the paradise, 
Resplendent with the visions of their life, 
That should not, could not, never fading 

grow! 
There seed was in thereself, and hence, they 

grew, 
And multiplied upon the new crown'd earth. 
To bear companionship with man and bless 
His every act lest he, in time, become 
A figure lost in lonliness supreme. 

The nextj which w^as the fourth creative day. 
Was formed the seasons* and the signs there- 
of, — 
The lights of heaven to illuminate 
And illustrate the pathw^ay of the years, — 
To rule the day w^ith sunbeams, w^ondrous. 



fair, 
i\nd bathe the night in moonlight soft and 

sweet, — 
To give unto the uncreated man. 
Illimitable pleasure on his way. 

Then after He created fish and fowl, 

And every living creature of the earth, 

He deem.ed it w^ise -to then, in haste, create 

A king for all; and then "let us make man 

In our image, and after our likeness 

And let him have dominion over fish, 

And fow^l, and cattle, and the creeping 

things" 
Was brung about, and man w^as duly placed 
In his dominion; in his w^oe and pain 
He reveled not, but lived in golden joy, 
Unspotted and eternal, and he reigned. 
O'er principalities and flow^ing land, 
Filled with the indestructive dream of life. 
Fresh in exempted youth and noble thots, 
Beneath the harbored love of Him above, 
Who giveth joy unfading to the soul. 

Until he fell and ah, the reckless fall. 

Was daw^n of dying life, and dying death! 

Thus, made the Lord the heavens and the 

earth, 
And all the subjects on its monstroias face; 
The planets, and the w^aters of the deep. 
And the expanse of great and boundless air, 
And all that is; He rested not, but toiled. 
Employing every day for to complete. 
The acts He undertook, until, at last 



His w^ork was all completed! And beyond, 
When He gazed out upon the seventh day. 
He paused upon that seventh day to rest! 

O never, never fade Thy sweet coiViniand! 
O noble joy' and love in sacred rest. 
That lived thruout the ages insecure. 
Which trusted not in that existing love! 
More beauteous *tis, for they who gain by't 
Than unsubstantial and deceptive lore, 
Of idle worlds whereon there doth abide 
The wickedness akin to measured death; 
No, never fade! Thou hast not since the 

day. 
Wherein the great Creator did create 
Thou, and the great expanse of earth and 

seas. 
And thou shall not; thou ever shall abide 
Fresh in eternal purity and love! 



The Soul's Path 

On earth we stand a living soul. 

Composed of ancient clay. 
Whose form has crossed a sea of light 

And rides an earthly bay. 
Where here and there the billow^s roll. 

And leaps the sunlight spray. 
Harassing with unconquered might. 

The 'ere endangered way. 

A spirit chained from mingling strife. 

Far o'er the smiling land. 
Where angels oft the throng combined 

On their consistent strand, 



Lived we, unconscious of our life 
Preserved by Heaven's hand, 
'Ere earth's formation God designed 
To rule the planet band. 

God, Lord of all, created here, 

A home for every child; 
The skies in glory echoed loud 

With shouting voices vv^ild. 
Another home, another sphere, 

With climates cool and mild. 
He formed beneath the flying cloud, 

For Heaven's undefiled. 

And nowr, today, we live and reign. 

On this, a foreign shore; 
Our home is high beyond the blue, 

If we but anchor o'er. 
The sting of death, a lonely grain, 

That thrives around our door, 
That dies w^hen w^e w^ith action true, 

Snarl at it more and more. 

Some day again to Him that lives, 

The spirit, o'er the wave. 
Shall rest thru all the coming years 

In freedom of the grave! 
The spirit flees to Him that gives. 

E'en to the low^ly knave. 
And anchors safe from earthly fears, 

No more a weeping slave. 



O wondrous spot, O smiling land, 
With gleaming "wealth at thy command. 
With prairies, lakes, and rivers fair. 
With mountains towering in the air. 
With plains abounding in their pride. 
With ships fair roaming o'er the tide. 
With scenic spots that speak so w^ell, 
A song of freedom thou shalt teli! 

How^ sweet the thot at close of day, 

When earth's gay breezes cease to play, 

A nation's smiles in love tonight, — 

A nation w^on her fame aright! 

A city in a vision falls, 

To dust has crumbled all her walls! 

But, no! the w^ork of Time is right, 

O'ercoming weakness with its might. 

Pjpi' •^^ oV» ^^ Sp 

Historic lives, historic dies. 

The ages ushering in a prize, 

infallible to any foe 

Whose hand moves evil to and fro; 

No hosts the fertile lands lay bare, 

No w^arrior leaves his image there, — ■ 
No hand displays a foreign flag, 
On eastern slope or w^estern crag. 

There lives unchained, consistent, free, 
Undeviating liberty, — 
Ennobled manhood, — glorious thot! — • 
Unaltering freedom, w^avering not, — 
Unspotted justice, cherished, true, — - 
A starry flag, — -how grand the hue!- — 
An idoled home replete with love. 
Long smiling 'neath its God above! 



The Conqueror's Refrain 

The battle raged along the line, 

While cannons in their duty roar'd, 
When with a mighty rush sublime, 

The troopers at each other soared. 
Unending till the tortured green, 
Shrink from the wild unearthly scene 

When thundering rose avoice to swell, 
The honor of the charging band, 
Who met the w^ords w^ith heart and hand 

"Boche shall turn and run like hell!" 

The smoke rose o'er the screaming plain 
*Mid all its host of dying grain. 
As here and there, with mighty blows, 
The Yanks dispatched their evil foes, 
When round about the weak'ning w^all 

Of Givry, in the carnage, fell, 
The 'ere remembered stirring braw^l: 

"Ye Boche turn; go run like hell!" 

Then louder fell the mighty stroke, 
Amidst the blinding battle smoke; 
Boche turned on his w^eak'ning heel, 

As if behind the w^alls to grope; 
He paused and stood; his heart could feel 

The terror in his bosom ope; 
He raised again the glistening steel 
And formed anew^ his anchored hope. 
And with the help of trusty blade 
The wild attach an instant stayed, 
When in tKe stronghold of the dell, 
There rose again the startling knell: 
"Go turn ye Boche, run like hell!" 



The plain was in an instant still, 
Save for the falling of the wall, 

That gazed in silence to the hill. 

Which thundered back the leader's call; 

The heroes of the bloody plain, 

Caught up the conqueror's refrain. 

That wondered thru the dark'ning dell: 
*'Boche turned tail and ran like helU" 



A Thought 

My soul is sad; 1 stand in fear 

Prognosticating woe; 
From painful eyes there falls a tear» 

Formed in the long ago. 

A burning brow^ cast to the earth, 

A wild, uncertain brain. 
Reigns, softened not by song or mirth,, 

Or life's consistent grain.^ 

But,- — io! A tender thot remains: 

Will I be left alone. 
When scow^ling earth and all her chains 

Lead to an anguished moan? 

Ah, not alone, but in delight: 

A Face is near my ow^nf 
A Hand, in love, shall guide aright^, 

Across the howling foam I 



The Vault of Blue 

The vault of blue is sweet and true, 

A cause for life's rejoicing; 
The wondrous skies to human eyes, 

Are blue from angels coursing, 
Across the street where humans greet. 

The thot of footsteps forcing. 

How sw^eet the sky to human eye,' 
Seems on a summer morning, 

When all the clouds, like ghostly shrouds, 
Have fled by w^eather's w^arning, 

To fly again, while dreary rain. 

Drops mid the mutter'd scorning! 

The vault of blue of graceful hue. 
That smiles o'er land and ocean, 

To use is grand, unspotted, and 
A thing of mystic motion; 

It e'er is fair to human stare, 

A sweet and loving notion. 

All day we lie beneath the sky, 

Earth's firmament forever. 
Oft won'dring round the precious ground 

Our fate for to dissever, 
But all the. w^hile the sky's fair smile 

In us is bright and clever. 

The vaulted sky shall never die! 

Forever 'tw^ill be gleaming 
With blessed light, by day and night, 

While sun and moon are dreaming, 
Above the scene of tortured green. 

Where youth fore'er is beaming! 



Whither? 

O whither, on the howling nights, 
When billov/sdrow^n the guiding lights,, 
And life with all its misery fights, 

May 1 embark? 
Not on the storm-toss'd w^ailing deep, 
(Ah, not where billows w^ail and leap) 
Where ail is one endangered heap. 

So cold, so dark. 

whither, whither may I sail. 
Beneath the darkness of the gale 
Where every act act repeats the tale^ 

Of w^oe and death? 

1 cannot ride the leaping foam, 

I cannot turn my face to Home, — ■ 

I can but go my course to roam 
With bated breath I 

O w^hither may my footsteps go? 

Not w^here the gloried flow^ers grow^, — > 

Not by the still and peaceful flow. 

Of cleansing streams; 
Not, oh, not to a peaceful hour, 
Beneath the shadowed wing of pow'r^ 
Where nothing sad can ever mar 
The holy dreams. 

O w^hither may my footsteps stray, 
To find the sw^eet celestial day? 
On mountain height far, far away? 

No ! To my soul i 
Whatever be the sadden'd lot, 
Of shattered heart o'er battles fought 
The inner soul retards the thot. 

And gains the goalL 



Daybreak 

The eastern light looms up afar, 
Beyond the twinkling, smiling star. 

Approaching o'er the silent hills. 
That rises high as if to mar 

The vision of the flowing rills. 
Till lo! the earth is one great light, 
Succeeding all the dark o' night! 

And then the hazy mists depart, 
And slowly moves o'er head a chart, 

Describing all the moving blue, 
Wherein the planets seek to start 

Upon their w^ayw^ard course anew, 

And then, — and then, the morning breaks 

Across the hill and dreaming lakes! 

More glorious 'tis than idle night, 
Wherein the hopes of life alight, 

Wherein the sorrow^s seek the day 
To then reconquer in the fight, 

On distant points, unknow^n, aw^ay; 
Long may the daylight banner shine, 
And instigate our acts sublime! 

And may it e'er thus be for me, 
When I shall cross the sounding sea: 

Let not the darkness dominate, 
The beauty of the Living Lea, 

But let the more exalted state 
Bear record of the lighted way 
That leads to sweet unceasing Day! 



I long for the summer 

To break o'er the hills» 
To gleam in the valley 

To sparkle on rills, 
To shine on the mountain^ 

To ride on the bay, 
And e'er be eternal 

To brighten the way! 

The wonderful summer 
That breaks on the lea. 

Predominate reigning 
^ Unspotted and free. 

Gives hope to the flow^er. 
That blooms in the dell; 

Gives life to the weary. 

Who v/andered and fell? 

How fair is the summer, 

Bright w^ondrous charm. 
That plays on the mansion 

And dw^ells on the farm. 
That smiles on the ocean, • 

And smiles on the sea. 
With glorious reflections. 

Eternal and free! 

Hov/ w^e long for the summer. 

Perfection of day. 
To carry our burdens 

Forever av-ray! 
O shine thou in w^isdcm, 

O shine thou in love! 
Succeed all the tempests 

O' Heaven above! 



To the Yankee 

The text of our hope is out over the sea, 

Engraved on the waste of a shell-ridden 
land, 
Inseperablj'^ wove to the hillock and lea. 

Entwining our hearts on its rampart to 
stand, 
To battle, to gain, — to strive to the goal 

And fight with all. vigor the terroring hand, 
While the visionic hopes that so helplessly 

roll, 
Collects, in their wisdom, a iggantic toll. 

But the hope it shall live w^here the Yankee 

shall fight, 

Unresting till dawn of the glorious day, 

Wherein all the blessings of Heaven shall light 

To guide and direct our fond visions av/ay! 

Ah, the Yankee shall fight w^ith the terror so 

grave, 

Shall honor the banner in beauteous array, 
And fall to the dust, if essential, to save, 

The God-given home from becoming a 
slave ! 

The Yankee lies dov/n to his slumbering rest, 

Unconsciously still in the silence serene, 
There turning his eyes to the mouldering v/est 
All pictured in red o'er the hovering 
green, 
All glow^ing in pride on his glorious shore, — 
Long smiling belov/ on the w^arriors be- 
tw^een. 
The sw^eetness of home and the sad billows 



roar. 
Far-off from the dreamland of m^ystical 
lore! 

\n the soldier off hope we can gloriously trust; 

His banner falls not to the vyrondering sod; 
His heart is aglow and his mission is just, 

And the pathw^ays are formed w^here his 
footsteps must trod; 
And his honor shall rise as the wail of the sea. 

Streams up to the throne of the beckoning 
God, 
And his soul is eternal, — ^eternal to be 

Awarded a home on the heavenly Lea! 



r 



g iinie 

Each time w^e breathe. 

We breathe once less, 
Each breath that's gone, 

We'll ne*er possess; 
'Tis time that counts; 

Each breath of air. 
In time shall flee 

To w^orlds of care. 
Each day makes less; 

Each day, each hour. 
Is gone fore'er 

To realms afar, 
To rest in hope 

Unknow^n to fear, 
Till graves shall call 

Companion year! 



To the Foreign Sleeper 

The Franco-Belgian border smiles 

For one departed sleeper 
Who dreams beneath the warring whiles 

Of death's destructive reaper. 

A hero sleeping great in fame, 

Despite his condescention, 
Reiterating not a name 

That harbors life's contention. 

Lone sleeping is the hidden face, 
Destined to hide forever, 

To rest.v/ithin the desolate place, 
As elements dissever. 

The grave is still; it dreamless lies 

In earth's wild desolation, 
Surrounded by the evil eyes, 

Of every warring nation. 

Within the silence is his hope. 

Of rest and its ambition, 
Tho' gloomy shadows w^ond'ring grope 

Without upon their mission. 

He lives! He reigns, contending life 

And all its w^oes mending, 
Unheeding every v/eary strife. 

That fate to earth is sending! 

O God, preserve the silent spot 
Aside the brook of Niving,- — 

Remember and protect the lot 
Low^ slumbering to living! 



The Falling of the Brave 

When the silent dust of the warrior trust. 

On the field does fade away, 
With the sw^eet beguile of the dying smile 

On his lips to ever play, 
The holy song of his native throng 

Goes onw^ard o'er his grave, 
Where the fallen sleep, and the living weep, 

O'er the falling of the brave. 

Ah, the smiling mirth of the glowing earth 

Lies in the throe of Death; 
The fallen face on its resting place, 

Gives up its gloried breath, 
And silent dies, as the dreaming skies. 

On the tortured lands engrave, 
A fameful thot on the sacred spot. 

Of the falling of the brave! 

The brave may fall in the noisy brawl 

On the w^ild and w^asted shore. 
But the heart will shine with a warmth divine, 

On its course forevermore! 
The falling tear and the mingled fear 

That falls upon the grave. 
May fall in love, as the Eyes above 

Falls on the fallen brave! 



The Forest Charm 

Deep in the forest is a lonely spot, 

Surrounded everywhere with silent grace, 
Where dreamy shadows ever try to wail, 

Their sorrow^ for the absence of a face; 
The leaflets lie in numbers lot by lot. 

Or murmur in the evening cool and still, 
And often in the treetops meekly sail 

FHgh flying o'er the top of every hill. 

The weaving vine goes on its zigzag course, 

Connecting round and round the slender 
stem. 
Withholding all its pleasure to expand. 

But crow^ning self as woodland's noblest 
gem; 
The burdened foliage of immortal force. 

The pathw^ay hides in an eternal gloom. 
As if it held the all-important hand. 

To give the court of nature words of doom. 

The treetops inharmoniously decree 

To keep the sunlight from the dreaming spot, 

Unconscious that the w^orks of nature die, 

When they their mother's lessons have for- 
got; 
The shadow^s linger soft and. silently. 

And w^onder if their loftiness shall dvsrell 
Forever where the moss in sections lie 

As if in silent dreaming pleased it w^ell. 

The ocean lying in its hollow^ed bed, 

Betw^een the space of green is dimly seen. 

When breezes do not hide transparent air 
Or leaflets flutter with their hosts of green; 

When one more low^ly lies the hidden head, 
And gazes out across a charming lea. 



Distinctly he can see a cottage fair, 

Upon the recks that border on the sea. 

How wondrous is the shadow of the w^ild! 

How^ beauteous are the charms invented 
there! 
The leaflets each inclose a lesson true 

While w^aving to and fro w^ithin the air; 
The silence of the w^ood in accents fair 

Combines the thots dispersed and w^isdoni 

fled, 

The shadow^s ope the tombs of life anew^, — - 

Unearths the bygone w^isdom of the dead! 



My pathway leads up a thorny hill, 
Along a w^ild w^ay w^orn trail. 

Into earth's silence cool and still, 
And crossed not one lovely dale. 

The sun shines not in golden rays,— 
No breezes fan the burning broW, — - 

No love, no song; destructive plays 
The howling wilds around me now^. 

Eternal seems the ling' ring stare, 
Of barren lands, ahead, behind; 

The rocks retreat with conscious care. 
From out the paths that zigzag v/ind. 

Unfaltering is my w^eary step,- — 

Unceasing gaze my steadfast eyes, 

Till, lol the land on which I w^ept 
Does not no longer higher rise! 

The valley (it is joy and rest!) 

Lies smiling, — w^aiting, — dow^n belov/! 

Life now is glorified and blessed. 

Where sun and breezes earthw^ard go! 



The Message 

Hark! *Tis a sound of many feet, 

On Time's eternal stair; 
They are the signals of defeat, 

Of long rembered care, 
And lo! A solemn bell we greet. 

At midnight's hour of prayer! 

A year is gone, departed, dead 

A woeful toil has pass'd. 
Thru w^hich we toiled in silent dread 

Of falling from the mast, 
But now the darkened days are past 

And still our spirits last/ 

V V V V ^ 

The starlit scene! A smiling Face 

Dwells in the light tonight! 
The bells are chiming for His Grace 

As swiftly dies the light, 
And midnight comes, and lo! the place. 

Is filled w^ith visions bright! 

Then meekly dies a dying year. 

And hosts of golden days; 
The bells of earth in accents clear 

Are ringing out their praise, 
And angels bring a meseage dear^ 

In their convincing w^ays- 

Another year wre bring to thee, 

(Sent by a peaceful dove) 
Dwell in thy fate that is to be 

Decreed Ly God above. 
That earth may stand and some day ses; 

The sweetness of His lovei 



To the Cloud 

Far-off lays a dying cloud, 

Sett'iing in the eastern world, 

'Ere the hazy mist shall shroud 
Earth in darkness far unfurled. 

Brightly shining as it flies, 

Underneath the summer skies. 

Hazy seems the distant blue, 

Unconcerned in actions wrught^ 

Gazing o'er the heavenly crew 
Irrespective of their lot^ — 

Floating long its harbored shore, 

Sailing gently o'er and o'er. 

Undisturbed by earthly gaze, 
Rides the flyer of the skies 
Concentrating every rays, 
. Of the sunbeams' wistful eyesr, 
Beauteous is thy honored face. 
Moving in the midst of space! 

Weary seems the moving lines, 
Inharmonious but complete,- — - 

Fleeing meekly from the signs 
Given by the heavenly fleet, 

Meanw^h.'te dreaming in the blue. 

Calmly w^orking life anew^. 

Aimless moves the shadowed mass., 
To and fro in lonely thot. 

Casting shadow^s on the grass 
Like a passing aeronaut. 

But to pass ashamed aw^ay 

To another spot of play.. 



Gloried is thy presence there, 

Mystic moving o'er the hills, 

Lying in the height o' air, 

Drinking from the sparkling rills; 

Fly thou on; eternal be 

Moving in the far-off sea! 



Life or Death? 

Life or death! The words abide, 

In many mystic hearts. 
With manners mein and stamped upon 

The song it e'er imparts, 
Which rings upon the land and deep 

As memory softly starts. 

Life or death! At noon, at night, 

The motto rings around, 
Not touching on the choicest spot 

Where joy and peace abound. 
But lingering over all the earth 

Wherever man is found. 

Life or death; the seas, the isles. 

The continental spot. 
Locks thru the aggravating mist 

And ponders at the thot, 

Behblds the acts of they who tried 

In working out their lot. 

Life or death! Which will it be 

On Life's undying shore? 
The breakers as they thunder in 

Know^ not w^hat liveth o'er, — 
But God has formed an alien spot 

Where life or death shall soar! 



The Sleeping Heroes 

From the snowy shores of Huron, 
To the bright and sunny south, 

Lies the hundreds who are sleeping 
In the cold earth's open mouth. 

Thru the long and countless ages, 
Ancients, heroes like the rest. 

Toiled and died in silent w^onder. 

On the green the sunbeam's blessed. 

From' the cliffs of California 
To the great unresting sea, 

Thousands, breathless, condescended. 
To the savage sleep to be. 

On the slopes of sunny mountains. 
In the w^ild uncertain place, 

Died the ancient, meekly seeking, 
Favors of the spirit's face. 

•ji iji ^f» ^ji iji 

Modern heroes lie in slumber, 

By the haunts he lov'd so well, 

By the sunlit lake and mountain, 

By the silence of the dell. 

He has trod life's raging ocean, — 
He has vsrintered every gale. 

He has slept beneath the billows. 
That so sad and loudly wail. 

Ah, thou hero, thou art sleeping! 

Storms roam o'er the weeping earth, 
Whis'pring **woe is not eternal. 

Thou shalt rise in noble birth!" 



Memory 

The unconceiving trees and hills vs^ere still. 

In smiling Syria on the day so fair, 
While time did renovate the ancient act. 

Of pensive Ruth and her remembered care; 
The rivers each prolonged the calm serene, 

And mountains held the wind in molded 
shields; 
SubiTiissive fell the flowers to the dust, 

As memory gleaned her childhood in the 
fields. 

The scattered grain still golden bound in 

sheaves, 
Yet bore the day of Boaz*s harvest seal; 
Still fresh and fair the sunbeams' banner 

waved 
The mystery of their actions to reveal. 

The silent fields of childhood! They w^ere 
there. 

Their boundaries indefinite and old, — 
Their nature a.s created long ago 

Upon the spot remembered, of its fold. 

The sunshine raised the echo of the day. 
And set aright v/ithin the sylvan glade, 

The smile of Heaven; earth, the trees, the 
fiow^ers. 
Rejoiced; all anchored in its shade. 

The pensive Ruth, the memory, gleaned in 
aw^e. 
Within the Syrian fields as long before, 



The grain upon the pathway of the old, 
Piled up to leave a record evermore. 

How memory gleaned the fields of childhood 
thru! 
How swiftly came the thot of bygone years! 
Indifferent to any honored rule , 

The sun dried not the pool of tortured 
tears; 

Though pensive, memory, in the Syrian calm. 

Collected a collection of the sweet, 
And found that golden grain did flourish 

still, 

That fields of childhood lingered incom- 
plete! 

The Hours 

We are going, Life is going, 

Down the silent sea of Time; 
We are leaving hours a flowing. 

As the ages roll sublime, , 

Time is flying, time is dying. 

While we wander on in pain,— 

While the stricken soul is crying 
For a more exalted gain. 

Life is groping, faintly sloping. 

To the joy beyond the skies. 
Where the scattered hours are hoping 

Death and lovelight never dies. 

Let us gather safe together. 

All the precious hours in haste, 

For we'll need them altogether 

'Ere comes Death's Eternal Waste! 



A Dream 

As 1 lay soft upon my bed, 

Wrapped in a morning dream, 
An angel from the smiling blues, 

Whose person lov'd to gleam, 
In holy and unconquered light, 

Came down at dawn of day, 
To dw^ell above my chamber door 

And happily to say: 

*'Aw^ake! aw^ake! The morning breaks, 

On Life's Eternal Lea! 
The hazy red of laden skies 

Scuds backw^ard o'er the sea! 
Arise, behold! the stars are dim. 

And lo ! no moon to share; 
No clouds, no storm! The earth, alas! 

Has fled from Heaven's stare! 

The morning breaks! A trumpet rings. 

Triumphantly w^ith boasts. 
Subduing all the home-born slaves. 

Yea, all the earthly hosts; 
Arise! Aw^ake! the angels sing. 

Time heretofore w^ill be, 
As pre-ordained and prophesied, 

Before the earth and sea. 

How^ dark, hovs^ sad, exalted art! 

How lone the highest thing! 
The angels on the quartered mass, 

Significently bring 
The indestructible to die, 

On every outcast strand, 

The lowly to the shining lea. 

Where yet abides the land. 



Steadfastly gaze the gates of gold, 

Ail-powerfully the bar; 
Magnificent appears the streets. 

And in their midst the Star! 
As sun-kissed leaflets dipped in gold. 

On springtime's ocean isle. 
Appears the wondrous book of life 

From out the shining pile. 

'Tis Judgment Day! O isles awake! 

Arouse, O slumbering dead! 
Behold the city! Gaze not back 

To life's destructive dread! 
The Light doth shine in golden rays. 

The gleaming gold is nigh! 
Aw^ake, O slumberler, to the call 

And view^ the courts on high! ' 

So saying it departed on 

Upon its gloried way; 
Within the silence I awoke, 

As darkness turned to day; 
'Tw^as but a dream; 'tw^as gone fore'er, 

But I, w^ho stood alone. 
Remembered and w^ithheld the act 

On Heaven's blissful throne! 






The War 

The war! The war! Destructive lives, 
The seige on earth's gigantic plain, 
Reconquering v/here the soldier gives 
His forward step of hopeful gain; 
'Tis war and hope; Resplendant lays. 
In far-off visions other days, 
That breaking fade in silent gloom 
So early in their youthful bloom! 

To counter-balance cautious care, 
The battle's face comes groping there, 
Reacting in the midst of night. 
Removing at the daw^n of light, 
Creating in the drives afar, 
The soldiers' e'er remembered scar 
That bright beneath the banners gleam! 
The scars are there for iibertj^— — 
For those V'/ho rule ^vhere life is free, 
To form its ow^n unending dream! 

When right and w^rong each other face, 
To die in their selected place, 
Both shall not fall in lasting sleep, 
While their's is one contrasted race, 
That throws its shadov/s o'er the deep; 
Right lives aright,— —w^rong lives to die! 
Time formed for it a longing sigh, 
Earth made for it a lowly grave. 
Wherein lies vv^rong, the sleeping slave! 

Wrong wages right; the bloody field 
Is earth's enclosure of the dead. 
The banner is the guarding shield 
In that destructive land of dread; 

And scars, are hope! The fading breath 

!j but the dav/n of living death! 



e 

Days are goirig, yet are coming. 

As the Y/heels of Fate go round, 
Flying o'er the fields of battle, 

Lighting on the blood-soaked ground. 
Turning wisdom into sorrow, 

Shifting greatness into death, 
Looking on with longing visions, 

As the hero gives his breath! 

Hov/ the w^orld's all-powerful wisdom 

Strives upon the field of woe, 
Quite unconscious of the morrow^ 

And of every earthly foe! 
In the plains of Desolation, 

Fate has given all a call; 
Wisdom has not over pow^ered her 

In their fierce blood-thirsty braw^L 

Days unconsciously are going, 

Streaming o'er the wreck of life, 
Sailing o'er the land of terror. 

Pushing on the w^ondrous strife, 

Dying not till thousands slumber, — 

Resting not till fate has turned 
On her voyage home in darkness, 

After all her fires had burned. 

Rouse, ye dead, to human action* 

Every back-set calnily v^^eigh! 
It may help to stand victorious. 

On another welcome day! 
Rouse to life, uphold thy nation. 

Longing ^vait the day to gain, 
Rise and w^ait! A Power upholds thee 

And thy acts are not in vain! 



The Last Tree 

last great silent forest tree, 

Thy limbs have waved forever free; 

1 hy head stood high above the hill, 
That smiles upon the winding rill! 

In youth thy tiny limbs oft swayed, 
Above the spot w^here footsteps played; 
They sent fair echoes thru the air 
Of Indian maidens young and fair. 

The dev7 in youth was kind to thee, 
While hovering round thy nimble knee; 
It v/ove the bark around thy thigh, 
And sent thy head, in honor, high. 

The raindrQps fell, the sunshine blazed, 
Arpund thy feet so bare, amazed, 
To think the spot so poor and wild 
Could rear so sv/eet a forest child. 

When til e had raised thy branches high. 
Toward the blue celestial sky, 
Thy life was stunned for one sw^eet day 
By Indian children's ceaseless play. 

But still thou lived a noble soul. 
Destined to gain the w^oodland goal, 
Which thou, -when time had flew^ av/ay, 
Reached at the smiling dawn of day. 

The Indians all had- slept before 
Thou stood above the hill and o'er 
The nest of crow^s, and hills of corn, 
The white man hoed each shady morn. 



He loudly cursed the giant tree, 

For what he termed its villiany, 

For shading corn from noon till night, 
Withholding all the good sunlight, 

He took his axe and one cool day. 
Removed thy form from out the way; 
The head no longer passed the hill, 
Or smiled upon the winding rill. 

One day w^hile w^orking at his trade, 
He sought a cool refreshing shade, 
And searching he gave out a cry: 
"Come back, O branches, cool and high!*' 

But lo! the branches they were gone. 
To sleep w^ith their ancestral throng, 
No more to w^ave above the hill, 
Or smile upon the winding rill! 

Jesus^ ComiHand 

We live and die upon the land, 
That rich was made by human hand. 
And ponder o'er our low^ly state, 
And w^onder w^hat w^e owe to Fate, 
When 'tis but Jesus' sweet command. 

Our hearts are ours; each single strand. 
Was w^ove by Time's ingenious hand. 
And given to the earthly soul 
To guard as flying season's roll: 
The act of Jesus' sw^eet command! 

We are a soldier heart and hand. 
That roams o'er earth's delightful sand. 
Destined to cross a foaming wave. 
And fall to earth, at last, a slave. 
But 'tis but fesus' sw^eet command. 



To the Christ 

There is a city dreaming o'er the sea, 
Wherein was found a Face destined to be 
Despised, condemned by all the darkened 
earth, 
Arriving when the earth had cause to flee 
Wide searching for the Light's eternal 

birth, 

Awaiting for a Savior filled w^ith mirth. 
To send the soul to its eternity. 

Within the city layed the silent Child, 
All wrapped in raiment tattered, torn, and 
wild. 
Whose condescention passed the race of 
man, 
As swiftly passed the moments drear and wild, 
Conveying angels, all who nimbly ran 
Lika people to and fro around the khan; 
All w^ondered as the mystery higher piled. 

The Son arose and preached to every one 

Who dwelled beneath the smiling of the sun, 
The mystery of His v/ill; the races knew^ 

1 hat He, His mystic life had just begun. 
There heeded to His w^ords a noble crew^. 
Who acted so consistent and so true. 

That Jesus clothed their form to ever run. 

The Christ upon the cross of Calvary died. 
Degraded in the eyes of men who tried 

To bring Him downw^ard as an earthly 
slave ; 
They crucified Him and forever sighed 

On looking at the tomb, the holy grave, 

Wherein men said there layed a low^Iy 



knave, 
Who dreamed, and in His dreaming silent 
lied. 

He died, yet lived; O wKat a nable soul! 
He paid the price with life, — a noble toll! 

He rose again to live, to die no more, 

To reign beyond the skies as moments roll, 
And brino' us love within our shadow^ed 

door. 
Where sorrow w^as so great in days of 
yore. 
But where v/ith Him w^e seek the golden goal. 



The Bugle Blows 



Hark! the bugle blows again; 

A call to arms! 
Ringing over Freedom's plaiVi 

With mystic charms. 
How sweet the sound of long refrain 

'Mid w^ar's alarms. 

Hark! the nation's wisdom flies 

Thru smoky air, 
And upw^ard to the silent skies, <, 

Unmarked w^ith care, 
And onw^ard where the glory lies 

Of battles fair. 

Hark! the holy prophet trod, 

O'er happy land, 
Rehearsing future acts of God 

By w^arriors hand, 
Declaring that the nation's sod 

All armed w^ould^ stand! 



The Sleeper 



The beauteous sea w^as a shimmering mass, 
All clothed in its glory eternal and gay, 
High gazing above to the heavens that pass. 
Conveying the stars to enlighten the 
way, — 
Conveying the stars with their glimmering 
light, 
That somew^here looked dull on a tempest- 
tossed bay, 

Conveying the moon, ruling planet of night. 
To sparkle on him who was sleeping away! 

Ah, the wondrous deep v^as a token of rest, — 

A token of joy to the e'er w^earied soul, 

A token that bore on its uppermost crest, 

Freedom from the sorrows that mystically 
roll; 
Its calm undisturbed, and its silence so w^ild, 

That w^ondered away to the boreal pole, 
Refreshened the life of the wondering child, 

As his comrades were striving to sail to the 
goal. 

'Twas glorious to dream on the low^ moaning 
sea, 
Where glorious stars on the sleeper did 

peep, 

Where all w^as a silence resembling the grave, 
Thrust out on the billow so boundless and 
deep ! 
The star and the moon w^as a guardian there, 
Where light on the wave did so cheerfully 
leap! 
Its face on the billows vsras sparkling and fair, 
While he in the silence did silently sleep! 



Alas! Ah, alas! On the beautiful morn, 

The sleeper awoke to his duty no more, — 
Awoke not to see the bright sunshine adorn, 

Ocean or island or far-aw^ay shore, 
Awoke not to view the great vision of life, — 

Arose not to view^ its great visionic lore, — 
But dreamed, as he slept, in the shrinking of 
strife. 

To dwell in the mystical silence of yore! 



The Bygone Hope 

How art thou gone, O hope of mine, 

Gone o'er the trail whence none returns, 
Lost in the chaos of the urns, 
Where gloomy life forever burns, 
Unheedful of the realms divine. 
Where gloried hopes forever shine. 

Ah, thou art gone; how^ blissful joy 

Looms o*er the shadow^ of the passed; 
Forever shall its presence last, — 
Forever must it stare aghast. 
Commanding traits of one decoy 
Whose super-acts forms one alloy! 

Farewell, O hope, farew^ell, farew^ell, 

Farew^ell, O life, that should have been; 
Let not mine eyes go enter in 
The silent tombs enthroned w^ith sin, 

But let,.0 let, one memory dw^ell 

Of all that hope I lov'd so well! 



The Titanic 

O wondrous Titanic, the stormy Atlantic 

Has left thee to lie in the silence alone, 
With dreams of the morning, when Heaven 
w^as w^arning, 
Thy face as thou rode on the wondering 
foam; 
Thou vainly was dreaming, of steaming and 

steaming, 

Of parting the tidal and rock-beaten vs^aves, 
But 'ere thou had finished, thy fame had 
diminished, 
With thou and thy mystical treasure as 
slaves! 

Thy danger w^as greeted, O thou so conceited, 
Thou linked not a chain with the hovering 
sky; 
Thy recklessness slumbers; thy inmates are 
numbers 
Of they who in coldness w^ere suffered to 
die! 
O thou famous Titanic, the stormy Atlantic 
Has left thee to dream in thy home ever- 
more, 
Where the waters are measured by Him w^ho 
hath treasured 
Thy fame to the pondering nation ashore. 

O silent Titanic, thy movements w^ere frantic, 
Thou groped thru the harboring darkness 

of fate; 
Thy heart was wild beating, thy form was fast 

meeting 



The Demon of Death at its chaotic gate! 
The time-clock was tolling, till hours were 
fast rolling, 
Unconsciously fast, in sw^eet memory of 
thee, 
As harbored sensation, and views of thy 
station, 
Had led thee to roam o*er the shimmering 
sea. 

O sunken Titanic, tho' fate w^as volcanic, 
And sunk thee away at the dead of the 
night. 
Thy heart is but dreaming, of gleaming and 
gleaming, 
Some day in a wonderful mansion of Light! 
O solemn Titanic, thy form so gigantic. 

Is lying in peace with the slumbering blest. 
Where lilies are falling, and angels are call- 
ing, 
The home to the masterful sweetness of 
rest! 






The Cottage 

The cottage stood beside the sea, 

Where every silver spray, 
Awoke the silence of the deep 

And formed a beauteous day! 

No face lived in the cottage fair. 
The sweet day-dreaming place. 

Or roamed along the mossy shore 
With all its cherished waste. 

A silence reigned, complete, untamed. 

Upon the land and sea; 
A vision harbored o'er the scene, 

And round the isle of Vee. 

The flow^ers bloomed in silent awe. 

Beside the leaping w^ave. 
And covered o*er with conscious thot 

The sleeping dooryard gave. 

The sunlight fell in v/ondrous rays 

On the deserted shore. 
Where all w^as love and silent peace 

Increasing more and more. 

The palm tree o'er the cottage waved. 

Erect and smilingly; 
Their shadow^s loomed across the deep 

And o'er the isle of Vee. 



The birds lived on the mystic isle, 
And round the cottage gate; 

Sweet songs proceeded from their throat. 
In numbers wild alid great. 

The moonlight fell soft in the night, 
When all was peace and rest, — 

When silence reigned around the grave 
And its surroundings blessed. 

The deer, at night, along the cliff. 

Gazed on the spot of green. 
As beasts reclining in the w^ild. 

Beheld the sight serene. 



The day broke sweetly o*er the w^ave. 

And o*er the isle of Vee; 
The banner of the rising sun 

No human eyes could see! 

The birds resumed their song of love 
Where none was w^ont to dwell; 

The palm tree gazed across the deep 
Where'er its shadow^s fell. 

A vision dwells forever there 
And glides across the foam; 

A glory haunts the sacred spot 
Of vision's happy home I 



Acts of Youth 

Far dovv^ii below the treeless hill 
Where flows the deep eternal rill, — 

Where gleam the footsteps sweet are they,- 

I see my life's remembered day. 

*Twas long ago I stood and smiled, 
Upon the banks where I had piled, 
The gray-w^orn rocks of various size, 
An act in boyhood great and v/ise. 

I see the temples built of stone, 
Magnificent to me alone; 
My youthful toil had piled them there, 
When life was free from binding care. 

The first I played was by the riil, 

Where nature roamed so calm and still, 

Where footsteps shone so pleasantly. 
Great footsteps lost fore'er from me. 

So sw^eetly every bird did sing. 
Preparing paths for smiling spring, 
Each lonely dwelling rnong the trees, 
Kissed by th 3 earth's untiring breeze. 

But now, alas! the charms are past, 
^ et in the cave of youth made fast. 
To dwell amid the vicious gale, 
/_nd renovate each childhood tale. 

How boyhood memories haunt me still, 

Of the smiling valley and the rills, 

Of the beauteous temples built of stone, 

Of my idle hours by the dreaming foam! 



To the Kaiser 

O Kaiser, thou that ruleth on the throne 

Of conquer'd man, 
And dreameth in the valleys where they ran 

with piteous moan, 
Doth rule, and in thy ruling, rule alone 

Where e'er thou can. 

Thou ruleth irrespective of the life 

Of they who die, 
High gazing to the blue parental sky un- 
stained w^ith strife, 
Condemning w^ith the pistol and the knife. 

Their souls to die! 

Whither shalt thou go upon thy course 

To kill and slay, 
The infants as they walk in harmless play 

with hands of force, 
As thou, O Kaiser, man of God, the Sourse, 

Has done this day? 

God! shall thy soul be stained on Heaven's 
day 

With eviFs base, 
When thou hast ceased to slay they servant 

race on conquered clay? 
A retribution God demands as pay I j 

Behold His Face! 



Moonlight 

Earth is listening, noise resisting, 

Peace is present, all is grand; 
Trees are bending, Time is sending, 

All her brilliance to the land; 
Stars are sinking, silence drinking. 

Pleasure reaps the wondrous sight, 
While the dreaming see the gleaming 

Of the smiling cresent light. 

Hours are going, slowly flow^ing, 

Waves are silent at the shore; 
Night is knowing, light is sowing, 

Seeds of brilliance o'er and o'er; 
Beasts reclining, cease from dining. 

Birds are dreaming not of flight, 
All are thinking, w^ildly blinking. 

At the smiling crescent light. 

Earth, while listening, keeps resisting 

All antagonistic things; 
All her dreaming thots of scheming, 

More illumination brings; 
While the glowing eyes are knowing 

Life is sw^eeter than the grave, 
Night is heaping, o'er the weeping, 

Crescent moonlight on the wave! 



The School House 

The school house stands asid^ the brook, 
Where all the flowers are dreaming, — 

Where ever flying treetops look 
Across the valley beaming. 

In beauty stands the silent walls, 

Their secrets calmly keeping; 
Within their silence memory calls. 

The host of dreamless sleeping. 

There once around the honoured place 

Beside the w^aters flowing, 
Was seen the calm and youthful face 

To manhood sw^iftly grow^ing. 

The rounded knoll, — a sacred spot, — 
Gazed on the footsteps fleeing. 
In youth's retreat, not soon forgot. 
By those thru memory seeing. 

The place still shines! A brilliant hue. 
Comes from the flower blooming! 

There *neath the cloudless mass of blue 
No beauty fate is dooming. 

And yet, behold! The w^aving sod 

Bears up its burden ever; 
The smiling visage there shall trod 

Forever and forever! 



The Ideal Day 



"Look on! What is it to the right 
Of yonder long and shapeless height? 
A warrior who has ceased to fight! 

Behold, an orphan; she is free! 
Does she sing and shout for me? 
No! She prays, O Lord, to Thee! 

Then v/hy sit 1 in mansion fair. 
Where victory never comes to stare? 
Ah, I shall flee with cautious care!" 

There is a thot; what is it? Home! 
A.'way beyond the dreaming foam; 
"From out the land of dying cla^^ 
We'll wind a path to freedom's day." 

Hurrah! Hurrah! The bloody field 

Has ceased to be a w^arrior grave; 

Upon it flies a gorgeous shield, 

That e'er the hopes of life shall save. 

Ideal Day has come at last! 

Gaze on, nor fear the hellish blast! 

The flag of love, of peace, of rest, 
Adorns the hillock of the right! 
Life lives, and all is meekly blest! 
The hordes retire, and cease to fight! 
Hurrah! The armistice departs! 
The quivering lance no longer starts, 
Upon its mission born of death, 
That oozes .out the w^arrior's breath, 
And leaves upon the low^land low 
The stirring memory of the blow. 



The day has ended as 'twould be, 
And sweetly 'tis; 'twill be for aye, 
The sw^eet and the Ideal Day, 
That late has crossed eternity. 
Ah! 'twill rebloom the flowrets gay, 
That bloomed upon the peaceful lea! 



Language 

The smiling day breaks not but w^hat w^e see 
The indestructive substance of our souls, 
Increasing in its volume as it rolls, 

In the appropriate channels, as 'tw^ould be,- — 

Unerrnig, as it e'er, so silently, 

Impresses joy to its undying goals; 

And leaves within the courtyard of our 
hearts 
e noble line of language on its charts. 



There is a theme that guides the w^atching 
eye, 
And leads it clear from an eternal night; 
'Tis language, and beneath its banners fight 
The ceaseless hosts, w^ho 'neath its banners 

cry 
For its endless perfection, and they try. 

To grasp it with their w^ild unconquer'd 
might, , 

And grasp until upon the verge of clay. 
They find they have not found its perfect 
w^ay ! 



The languages are memories of our souls 
That grows within the absence of our 

hearts; 
Upon its standards there immediate starts, 
The action that ennobles human tolls, 
And leaves us neath its acts that ever holds, 

Securely, insomuch that none departs; 
The echoes as they fall on rising hills. 
Drink from the giving streams of mystic rills. 

The musing life of an unfading day, 

Fair in exempted youth, seeks but to rise, 
To stand, and standing view the noble eyes 
Of that fair form of language on its w^ay, 
Clothed with intelligence of sw^eet array. 
That on its mission seems for to devise, 
A useful life, save from the hands of fate, 
To live upon a pathway old and great! 




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